A prophetic voice in Jewish, multireligious, and American life

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In a moment when religious differences are often turned into violence and war, it is especially important to show that religiously, spiritually, and ethically rooted folk -- especially but not only Jews, Christians, and Muslims –- can reach out across the boundaries of our communities to affirm the Unity at our roots.

The statement below does that. Leaders of our traditions and communities have signed it. We invite you to join with them to sign it and to support its publication to a wide audience, by making a tax-deductible gift for presenting it broadly.

To do this we need your help. Your signature and your financial support. Your tax-deductible contributions.

Please click on the Donate button ON THE RIGHT-HAND EDGE OF THIS PAGE and in the "behalf of" box write "Iran peace." If you possibly can, please aim at a gift of $360. Less will make it VERY hard to publish this as we hope to do. To appear in the printed version, a minimum gift of $70 is necessary. ALL signers will appear on the Website.

Please share this message with your friends and coworkers!

Shalom, Arthur (Rabbi Arthur Waskow)

PLEASE FILL OUT & RETURN THE "COUPON" AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS MESSAGE, OR CLICK TO THE BLUE "DONATE NOW" BUTTON, TO SIGN & SUPPORT THE CALL.
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A PAX ON BOTH OUR HOUSES

A PAX ON BOTH OUR HOUSES

Now that we know that Iran is not making nuclear weapons, the God of peace and justice calls on Americans and Iranians to make a full peace with each other -- not dither any longer between peace and war. For as the Prophet Elijah cried out, "How long will you keep hopping between two opinions? Choose!"

God calls us to choose Peace – Because, as the Bible teaches, every human being is made in the Image of God, and as the Quran teaches, to kill one human being is to destroy the world; to save one human being is to save the world.

To choose Peace – because both the Bible and the Quran teach we must always act to protect the poor; yet as President Eisenhower said, "Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed." In America, millions are suffering from this theft; in the world, billions. And the cost of the war to the US alone is now estimated at two TRILLION dollars.

To choose Peace – because it is shameful in the eyes of God for Christians, Jews, and Muslims to incite hatred against each other. This hatred leads to war, and then war becomes a justification for more hatred. In each of our communities, there are some who peddle hatred and incite violence. We must all turn away from such idolatry.

To choose Peace –- Because hatred, violence, and threats of war undermine the very liberties and human rights that most Americans and Iranians prize, and benefit only those who thirst for power, not for justice.

We call upon the Government of the United States to end all actions, threats, plans, or support for war against Iran.

We call upon the Supreme Religious Authorities of Iran to end all threats against the existence of Israel and all denials of the historical truth of the Nazi Holocaust, to make clear that Iran will not support violence against civilians by its own or other forces, and to reaffirm for the future their prohibition of any effort to seek nuclear weapons for Iran.

We call upon the governments of both nations at once to open direct talks on all issues of mutual concern, looking toward a mutual peace.

And we call upon the American government to move forward in the spirit of humility and generosity, rather than arrogance and domination, toward a broad peace settlement in the entire Middle East, including an end to the occupation of Iraq, peace between Israel and Palestine and all other states in the region, and a major international effort to protect human rights and promote grass-roots economic development in the region.

We call upon the peoples of the world to support this call, for the sake of conscience and survival.

Please add your name as a signer to this statement. In order to help publish it, we need to ask that you contribute a minimum of $70, for your name to appear in the published version. (All names will appear on Website.) PLEASE AIM AT $360 OR MORE, IF YOU CAN. Your contribution is tax-deductible. You can sign & contribute by mailing this coupon or clicking to the Donate button in the right-hand margin of this page and noting "Iran peace" in the "on behalf" box.
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TO: The Shalom Center, 6711 Lincoln Drive Philadelphia PA 19119 (Make check to " Shalom Center.". Note "Iran peace" on check.) I enclose:

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Make a recurring donation and receive Freedom Journeys as our token of appreciation. Click here for more info about the book. Freedom Journeys is a deep meditation on the timeless—and timely—relevance of the Exodus narrative. In the grand tradition of mystical exegesis, Waskow and Berman reflect upon Exodus not only as an event that happened “then” and “there”, but a paradigm of movement that is happening here and in the now, for all of us, Jew and Muslim, Black and White, male and female. —Omid Safi, professor of Islamic studies, University of North Carolina.